Member Article

UK employers admit lack of knowledge in handling substance abuse in the workplace

Around a third of UK employers (32%) admit they don’t have enough knowledge or training to identify if a worker is under the influence of recreational drugs - even though 16% have suspected a staff member of having taken a substance.

Although 87.5% reported that they had a written drugs and alcohol policy in place, and a huge 95% claimed to have a zero tolerance approach to employees under the influence of drugs, a high proportion indicated that they would struggle to enforce their policy.

More than three quarters said they would not carry out random drug testing (76%) and around a third confessed that they did not have enough knowledge or training to tell whether an employee was under the influence of drugs.

These figures emerged from a survey of 200 medium to large sized firms carried out by global health business Synergy Health plc, and covers approximately 26,000 employees.

Specifically for London and the South East, the survey took in over 136 businesses – a mixture of large and SMEs, making up 68% of the total.

The results were released ahead of Synergy’s Drugs at Work conference at London’s Royal Holloway University next month, which is specifically designed to help companies deal with the problem of drugs and alcohol in the workplace more effectively.

Technical Services Manager for Synergy Health, Dr Philip Kindred, said: “Whilst our study shows the majority of business to have a stringent drug and alcohol policy in place, these policies are only as good as the people enforcing them.

“If managers don’t have the skills or the will to enforce these policies they might as well not exist and the potential risks to colleagues, customers and company reputation remain.

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research shows that drugs and alcohol are a contributory factor in 26% of the workplace accidents that cost the UK economy over £4 billion per annum.

As a regular testing facility for employers across the UK, conducting over 40,000 drugs screenings a year, Synergy Health uncovers an average of 10% positive rate for drugs of abuse from donors. Of this 7% were positive for cannabis with 2.1% positive for Cocaine.

Dr Kindred continued: ‘We have seen over 50% of employees at a single company return a positive reading during testing in the past, so it’s clear there is a very significant problem out there and training should be in place for employers to identify such issues.

“With new ‘designer drugs’ on the market such as Mephedrone and Benzo Fury starting to be seen within the workplace, employers can’t afford not to be in a position to deal with the issues this presents.”

Keynote speaker for the event and author of the annual Global Drugs Survey, Dr Adam Winstock, said employers should strive to be able to recognise the symptoms and work to support their own policies by actively promoting a workplace that is safe from those who abuse drugs and alcohol.

He said: “Employers that don’t acknowledge that these issues could be present anywhere within the modern workforce are missing a trick.

“If they don’t support their employees to engage in, and promote, an overall healthier and happier lifestyle, it could have not only hazardous effects on the business but also on its reputation and overall profit.”

He continued: “It’s so important for us to continue to studies like this into attitudes to drug testing in workplaces across the world.”

“Not only does it raise awareness of the issue and help employers come forward and seek advice on how to overcome the problem, it helps us to create well-crafted workplace policies that are an essential component in promoting a healthy, productive and happy workforce.”

The one-day conference takes place at London’s Royal Holloway University in Surrey on Monday 16th June, and will see experts from organisations including Alcohol Concern, leading law firm Geldards LLP and Dr Adam Winstock, author of the Global Drugs Survey, giving insights into the hundreds of delegates in attendance.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Synergy Health Plc .